LISBON — Two years ago, the Monmouth Academy girls track and field team was disappointed. Last year, the Mustangs were determined.

This year? Nothing less than dominant.

It’s now two straight Mountain Valley Conference titles for the Mustangs, it’s three in four years, and it wasn’t even close. Monmouth scored 228 points to take the title at Lisbon High School, routing a field led by Lisbon (73), Spruce Mountain (61), Winthrop (54) and Wiscasset (53).

“Expectations for the girls was to win it, period,” Monmouth coach Tom Menendez said. “(That’s) a lot of points to score, but they were focused. They had their hard hats on, they were ready to go. … The expectation was to win by 100, and they took it seriously.”

Lisbon repeated as well in the boys meet, scoring 118.5 points to hold off Hall-Dale (84.5), Monmouth (79), Boothbay (74) and Mountain Valley (68).

Monmouth’s Anna Lewis runs in the 4×400 relay during the Mountain Valley Conference track and field championships Thursday in Lisbon.

“I’m super proud of all of our kids,” said Hall-Dale coach Jarod Richmond, who got a pair of victories in the javelin and long jump from Matt Albert. “I thought we may top out around third or fourth, so to get second today, the kids came and competed hard. … This was supposed to be a rebuilding year for us, so I’m really happy.”

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There was little doubt what would happen in the girls meet. The Mustangs didn’t allow for any, with five athletes and a relay team recording a total of eight wins. Destiny Clough (shot put, javelin) and Kaitlyn Hunt (mile, 2 mile) each won two events to lead the Monmouth machine, but first-place finishes didn’t tell the whole story — Monmouth had points coming from everywhere, flexing the most muscle in the throwing events, where it swept the top four places in both the shot put and the discus.

“It’s a great experience,” senior Maddie Amero said. “This team has felt closer than it ever had before, so to come here and do really well at MVCs, it means a lot to know you can go out with a bang in your senior year.”

The Mustangs didn’t take their status for granted. Not with the results from two years ago, when Lisbon pulled the upset, still lingering.

“We were thinking about my sophomore year, when we were like ‘Oh, we’re going to win again,’ and we kind of choked,” said Mahala Hayden, who won the discus at 93 feet, more than 13 feet further than runner-up and teammate Delaney Willey. “We couldn’t think about it too much. We just wanted to go in and have fun.”

That fun included a big day from Clough, who won the shot put at 30-1.5 and the javelin at 116-6.

“It feels really surreal,” she said. “I won javelin, I didn’t expect to, and with shot put, that was my main goal. It’s my favorite event. I would throw my back out for that event.”

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Hunt owned the distance events, edging sister Abbie both times to repeat as the champion in the mile (5:58.92) and 2 mile (13:18.36), while shaking some jitters in the process.

“I was a little bit nervous coming in,” said Hunt, whose team also got wins from Moira Burgess (race walk, 7:51.76), Libby Clement (300 hurdles, 50.48) and the 4×800 team (11:09.39). “I definitely felt pressure. It’s a little nerve-wracking when everybody’s looking at you as the champion from last year … but I guess it worked out okay.”

Winthrop’s Jillian Schmelzer was a dual winner, taking both the 100 (13.33) and 200 (26.92) after an injury derailed her MVC chances last year.

“I was just so close last year,” said the sophomore, who hurt her hip flexor last season. “I was glad to kind of redeem myself. … I wanted to focus on my start, keep my head down. … I was just focused on pumping my arms and getting the form down.”

Hall-Dale’s Sabrina Lawrence repeated as the pole vault champion, breaking her own school record of 7-6 with a vault of 8 feet.

“It was good to have my teammate (Olivia Bean) pushing me to do better. She tied the school record, I had to beat it. That’s how it’s been all year,” she said. “It’s going to be a really good future for her.”

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The Hall-Dale boys were led by an outstanding day from Albert, who despite being seeded second in the javelin pulled the upset by beating his personal record by more than 8 feet with a throw of 155-8.

“I knew I was going into this day knowing I was going to do pretty well in long jump, but in javelin there was a kid that can throw well above me,” he said. “Definitely, competing against the best, I knew I had to give it my all.”

Staff photo by Joe Phelan Monmouth’s Gabe Martin, left, takes the baton from Dylan Goff in the 4×400 relay during the Mountain Valley Conference track and field championships Thursday in Lisbon.

Albert did finish first in the long jump at 20-2.75, and there was some tension to the victory — he faulted on every attempt but the winning leap.

“I think I was trying extra hard and running more than usual,” he said. “I definitely had to move back. I jumped well behind the board.”

Madison’s Darin Libby was the meet’s fastest man, winning the 100 at a time of 11.61.

“It was a great race. There are a lot of good guys here,” he said. “You’ve got to come into it ready. You can’t get too nervous at the start. You jump the gun, you’re disqualified. You start too late, you have to play catch-up.”

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Monmouth’s Dylan Goff won the 400 at 55.02.

“I don’t go out expecting to win,” he said. “I run as hard as I can and I’m happy with the result.”

Jon Jordan (23.85) won the 200 for Mt. Abram. Monmouth’s Zach Wallace won the shot put at 43-9.

Drew Bonifant — 621-5638

dbonifant@centralmaine.com

Twitter: @dbonifantMTM

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